Daniels signs Great Lakes Compact bill preventing watershed siphoning

Indianapolis – Gov. Mitch Daniels signed a measure that allows Indiana to join a regional compact intended to prevent water-hungry states from tapping into the Great Lakes Wednesday.\nThe General Assembly approved Senate Bill 45, which protects water from being siphoned out of the Great Lakes watershed to drought-stricken states or areas that need water to continue their growth. Indiana encompasses parts of both the Lake Michigan and Lake Erie watersheds.\nMinnesota and Illinois have also ratified the agreement.\nThe compact instructs the Great Lakes states to regulate water use and adopt conservation plans – rules that could affect everything from sewage treatment to auto manufacturing.\nAfter all Great Lakes states enact it, Congress must then ratify it.